Surprise

In nearly all of Jim Carrey's movies, the rubber-faced actor's eyebrows leap like caterpillars on amphetamines. Jack Nicholson's eyebrows arch wildly to imply devious deeds are afoot. Even Bob Dole, known for his expressly unanimated speaking posture, has been known to cock an eyebrow to italicize his remarks.

Matt Kemp suddenly found himself linked to the Donald Sterling scandal Sunday. In the hours leading up to the Dodgers' 6-1 defeat by the Colorado Rockies, the celebrity gossip site TMZ released a second audio recording of what was said to be a conversation between the Clippers owner and a woman described in court filings as his girlfriend. The female voice in the recording promised to remove from her Instagram account a picture of her with Kemp. On a recorded conversation released earlier, a man identified as Sterling chided a female friend for "associating with black people.

So, a French restaurant group seats guests according to how good looking they are, according to a report in the U.K.'s Daily Mail . "Guests at Le Georges, a restaurant at the top of Paris' Centre Pompidou with stunning panoramic views of the French capital, and Café Marly, near the Louvre, are given tables following a strict appearance policy - the better looking they are, the better the table," the story suggests. Quoting from the French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé, the articles goes on to say "As for the non-good-looking ones, it is imperative that they be dispatched to the corners of the room.

Getting the strangers to open up wasn't easy. But Jesus Rodriguez, a high school senior, pressed on, clipboard and questionnaire in hand. He and about 15 other students spent Thursday evening at MacArthur Park, interviewing people about their lives, their well-being and the health of their neighborhood. Their responses will be the basis for an intricate art installation to be displayed at the park in the fall. For Rodriguez, 18, the exercise was eye-opening. He spent two hours approaching random men and women, some of them homeless.

In truth, pretty much no one had ever heard of him. He was about as unknown as a player could be who's been in an organization for 10 years. When Elian Herrera was called up May 14, he was just supposed to be a temporary fill-in, a versatile guy to move around until Juan Uribe's wrist healed. Only now, almost every game Herrera makes some type of contribution for the Dodgers. He does something. Gets a hit, drives in a run, steals a base, scores a run. Has an impact. He has started 24 games, somewhere - third (10)

The lead paragraphs of your April 3 article on "surprise" tax bills are a definite attention grabber ("A Surprise Plucking: Loss of Deductions, Shelter Benefits Begin to Take a Toll From Some Taxpayers"). Someone's tax jumping from $4,300 to $27,000 is shocking. However, what I find amazing is that on a net income of over $82,000 (estimated from the $27,000 tax bill, using my handy 1987 tax rate tables), which implies a gross income of near $100,000, that the taxpayer used as an example was truly surprised that the very well-publicized tax law changes of last year would affect him. Perhaps he should fire his accountant for not warning him that all those nice tax shelters had been axed.

Over the years, Comic-Con's movie-centric Hall H has offered some pretty great surprises. Robert Downey Jr. has been involved with a few of them. Hugh Jackman, who unexpectedly turned up at a "Wolverine" panel back in 2008 and sent the crowd into a tizzy, helped make for a classic moment. But lately the Comic-Con surprise has felt about as fresh as your Uncle Murray's surprise birthday party. The problem? So many of these types of moments have been orchestrated over the years that they've ceased to be, well, surprising.

There are lots of surprise standouts after the first six weeks of the high school football season. Besides the ones mentioned in Friday's column , here are some additional players: Noah Whitney, Dorsey, Sr. Primarily a backup last season, Whitney's passing success has been a big plus for the Dons. He had a school-record 359 yards and four touchdown passes against Fairfax. He had four TDs against Venice. Grant Kraemer, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, Sr. Kraemer was a backup receiver last season.

See how long it takes your friend to discover you left behind a sweet and surprising hostess gift with HingeHeads, tiny decorative accessories that attach magnetically atop standard door hinges. Founded by architect Michael Schubach, the Pasadena company has more than 150 designs in three finishes: antique pewter, antique brass and antique bronze materials. A new summer collection includes a dog, a peace sign, a skateboarder, a ballerina, a hula dancer and a palm tree. Custom designs are available too. The designs are hand-sculpted and cast in limited editions in Los Angeles.

DALLAS - Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said Saturday he wasn't surprised that the Washington Capitals - his previous employer - declined to renew the contract of general manager George McPhee and dismissed coach Adam Oates after the Capitals missed the playoffs this season. Boudreau worked for McPhee and coached the Capitals from 2007 until Nov. 28, 2011, when he was fired. Boudreau was hired by the Ducks two days later. Here's a link to the Washington Post's story on the departures of McPhee and Oates.

SYDNEY, Australia - The video playing on the television inside Baz Luhrmann's bedroom was supposed to be much steamier. But where there should have been desirous bumping and prurient grinding, the couples were remarkably chaste, as if they had been ordered to abstain from all manner of randy moves. "Look at this," the filmmaker behind "Moulin Rouge!" and "The Great Gatsby" said from the foot of his bed. "You couldn't get any more sexless. " Working inside the creative compound he calls Iona in Sydney's arty Darlinghurst neighborhood, Luhrmann was sitting with a reporter, reviewing news clips from 1980s Australian ballroom dancing competitions, whose judges favored technique over passion.

DETROIT - Mark McGwire was in the twilight of his career in 2001, willing his broken-down body through one final season with the St. Louis Cardinals, when a strapping young buck named Albert Pujols, just two years removed from being the 402nd overall pick in the draft, started tearing it up in spring training. Bobby Bonilla was slated to be the Cardinals' left fielder, but when Bonilla was hurt that spring, McGwire practically commandeered the lineup card from Manager Tony La Russa.

The Golden State Warriors choked. One of them did, anyway. Klay Thompson was talking to reporters after the game when he accidentally inhaled the deodorant spray Draymond Green was using two lockers away. Thompson's eyes watered and he coughed for a bit as he touched his throat. It was a momentary setback, nothing compared to what the Clippers experienced in a 109-105 loss Saturday to Golden State in a playoff opener. The Warriors were supposed to get beat without shot-blocking rebounder Andrew Bogut.

As Formula One prepared for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, perhaps the racing series' biggest news came out of Italy. Formula One stalwart Ferrari, mired in a years-long slump, tapped Marco Mattiacci as team principal after Stefano Domenicali stepped down earlier this week. What turned heads is that Mattiacci, 43, doesn't have any experience running a Formula One team; the Rome native most recently was managing Ferrari's North American operation. Now he's given the challenge of finding some way to get Ferrari and its two drivers -- former champions Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen -- competitive again with such teams as Mercedes and Red Bull.

Taylor Swift proved over the weekend that she's pretty darn committed to her superfans: The "Mine" singer reportedly stopped everything in order to fly to Ohio to make a surprise appearance at one lucky fan's bridal shower. Hey, if you invite them, they might come. Swift first met "superfan" Gena Gabrielle at numerous meet-and-greet events beginning in 2007 and the country crooner was invited to Gabrielle's bridal shower and wedding, E! News reported . Since the Grammy-winner couldn't make the wedding , she said she was sure to pop in on the bridal shower to fete the bride-to-be with gifts.

NEW YORK - Uma Thurman is bopping around a downtown Asian-fusion restaurant in this city she calls home, having just enthusiastically ordered some of the fried specialties ("I never met a dumpling I didn't like"), her 6-foot-frame and luminous skin incongruous among the normal-sized and average-complected people around her. Thurman has a demonstrative personality that some would call actress-y, though it seems less like a put-on than simply the grand way she chooses to go through life.

If the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival guarantees festival-goers anything, aside from wickedly high temperatures, it's this: Leave your expectations outside the gates. As the festival kicks off Friday, much of the buzz undoubtedly will be dominated by OutKast's highly anticipated reunion. What will their set look like? How will the pair sound after seven years apart? Do they still have it? And even more, who might possibly join them onstage? The surprise guest appearance is a festival staple, and Coachella acts have turned it into an art form.

Nick Offerman, who plays surly, meat-lovin' Ron Swanson on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," was at the helm of Thursday's big reveal episode, directing Amy Poehler as she delivered that squeal-worthy "Well, buddy, ... " line. It's the second episode the man with impeccable upper lip hair has directed. And -- spoiler alert -- it was quite the one to take on, as it sees Leslie Knope faced with another major milestone in her life: motherhood. We spoke with Offerman, who is currently in New York, where he's appearing in the off-Broadway production of "Annapurna" with his wife, Megan Mullaly, and asked about his reaction to the big plot twist, geeking out over guest star Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, and his thoughts on former costar Rob Lowe's tough life as a handsome man. BEST TV OF 2013 Lloyd | McNamara ------------------------------------- I'm mad at myself because I come into this interview having not had breakfast this morning.